My US travel mate, UK travel mate and I went to ikea together and were smitten with the green toy snakes there. The toy snake is this comic-looking soft-limbed creature with a gaping smile, and taller than me when extended to its full length. It's not that we haven't seen the toy snakes around before, but this evening we just felt like slinging them round our shoulders like feather boas and taking off to the cashier. At the check-out counter, my US travel mate sobered up and gave up her snake, but my UK travel mate and I carried on to purchase ours.

When I got home with it, I realised that my mum hates it. Sigh.